Department of unfortunate metaphors

A Republican candidate for Wisconsin governor has begun running ads in which he dons boxing gloves and vows to "go the distance" against the likely Democratic nominee, who was viciously beaten outside a fairground last year and left with serious injuries.

Scott Walker's campaign said Tuesday that it didn't intend to make reference to the August 2009 attack outside the Wisconsin State Fair that left Tom Barrett, Milwaukee's mayor, with injuries to his head, mouth, face and hand. Barrett tried to help a screaming woman struggling to protect her 1-year-old granddaughter from being taken by her drunk, belligerent father.

The attacker, who was sentenced in July to 12 years in prison, beat Barrett with a metal object. The mayor has had three surgeries on his hand, which doctors say may never fully recover.